n hisc Across our country Americans are coming to terms with the energy shortage. Faced with lines at ser- vice stations and limited supplies of heating oil, we have all become aware of the need for conservation. Yet, even with conservation, by the year 2000 our country will prob- ably require three times as much energy as it does today Fossil fuels will continue to supply an important part of that energy. But a good deal of America's future supply in this century and beyond will have to come from new technology. Exxon IS already working on this technology to develop several new sources of energy. Energy right .from the sun. One of those sources is the ulti- mate source of almost all of our energy-the sun itself. The sun s energy is enormous ThIS fIve-ceil solar module absorbs sun rays producing 1V2 watts of electnclty. . I n c r I and widely available. It can be col- lected and converted to electricity by solar cells like those that pro- duced electrical power for Skylab, Solar energy in use today. Today, as Exxon examines ways to improve its solar-cell technology, solar-cell units are already in use. In parts of Africa solar cells power instructional television. On boats, they maintain the charge in batter- ies, On marker buoys they supply electricity for warning lights and foghorns. One of Exxon's research alms is to cut the present high cost of solar- cell electricty. Super-batteries to store energy. To efficiently use the energy gen- erated by solar cells and other de- vices, we'll need super-batteries with much greater storage capacity Batteries to store the sun's energy for use as electricity at night Bat- teries to store energy that power plants produce in low-demand pe- riods for later use when the demand for electricity is high Better batteries would also speed the development of electric vehicles Exxon's target IS a battery that would be light enough, reason- able enough in cost and charging demands, and powerful enough to drive a car 100 miles on a single charge from a wall outlet This kind. of battery, which still requires inten- . In n . sive research could make possible a practical electric passenger car. Electricity from chemicals. We're also developing a fuel cell DifTerent from the solar cell, which uses the sun, a fuel cell generates electricity when certain simple gases, like hydrogen and oxygen, or a simple liquid fuel like methanol, are fed continuously into the cell Potentially fuel cells are efficient sources of electricity. They could provide silent energy for mobile homes or remote vacation homes They also might be designed as total energy systems for shopping centers or as a way for public utili- ties to supply additional power dur- ing high-demand periods Solar cells, fuel cells and im- proved batteries should come into greater use during the 1980's Meanwhile, Exxon is looking for energy sources for the next century. Nuclear fusion is one possibility \ ' /\, 'U ---- ..... , t Improved lead-acId battenes make electnc- powered vans practIcal tor urban delIVery The next step-practical battery-powered cars